


Don’t mess with Player

by LizardWithAComputer



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Bullying, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Protective Ivy, if you mess with him, player must be protec, player will steal your Xbox saves, pritective carmen, ptotective zack, takes place in season 2, they would totally do this for him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:34:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29994663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizardWithAComputer/pseuds/LizardWithAComputer
Summary: Someone starts bullying Player. Team Red isn’t having it.
Relationships: Ivy & Player (Carmen Sandiego), Player & Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep, Player & Zack (Carmen Sandiego)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 52





	Don’t mess with Player

After arriving at the hotel from the last airport, player disconnected comms to go to school. Carmen wasn’t going to get in the way of her best friend’s education, she’ll call him after. 

A few hours later when Player’s out, she picks up the phone and calls him, after a few rings the other end is picked up,

“Hey player-“

“give that back-“

“Shut it, fuckwad. What do you want with shorty over here?”

Well this is different.

“I just need to talk to player, so if you could kindly-“

“Player huh? Who’s this, your girlfriend?” The voice was further away from the phone at that last sentence, as if the caller turned to someone

“Hey Red! You might wanna call back later! Cant really- ow! hey what’s your problem?!”

“Player you ok?!”

“So red and player, huh? Cute. Anyway, you should spend some time with your boyfriend here, *turned away* shove him in his locker, he can fit!”

“Hey stop!”

There was a sound like a phone clattering on the ground and a locker door slamming.

“So...on the upside they gave me my phone back.”

“What the hell just happened?! Who was that guy?!”

“That was the person I told you about, the one who started messing with me. His name is Jake.” Player said with a sigh.

“Can you get out of the locker? Is there anyone to help you there?”

“Nope, they waited till most people left and after I got out of detention for screwing around on my computer between classes and my parents are on a business trip.”

“Again? They leave you alone too much, anyway, can you book me a flight? From in there?”

“I can use my phone, wait I didn’t even say anything about a mission yet-“

“No I want to get to Ontario.”

“Seriously? Why? Oh that was a dumb question...”

“We’ll get you out of the locker and fix your bullying problem. Sound good?”

“Sure I guess...I’ll hang up so I can book the flight...then I’ll just wait. Not like I’m gonna go anywhere, heh.”

“Hang tight, we’ll be there in a couple hours.”

“Alright, thanks Red”

Player hung up the phone and Carmen stood up to go to the door to the siblings’ hotel room. She knocked and Zack answered, “what’s up, boss?”

“How’d you like to help me fix player’s bullying problem?”

—————-

It was dark now. And player was hungry. And thirsty. And badly needed to stretch his legs out. Suddenly he heard a door open and close. 

“Carmen? Is that you?”

“Found him!” He heard Zack shout “boss will be here in a minute, which locker you in?”

“Oh hey Zack! I can’t see the number so I’ll just hit the door” player started banging on the locker door, hoping Zack will follow the sound

“This one?” He says right outside the door

“Yup I’m in here”

“Boss, found the locker!” He heard footsteps running up, definitely Carmen.

“Alright, I’ll get him out of here, you go find Ivy.” Carmen said to Zack

“On it boss!” He heard her running off to go find his sister. “Ivy! We found him! Get your butt in here!” He hears as the footsteps fade.

“This is a combination lock so I’ll have to break it to get you out, I’ll pay for the damages. We got you some food on the way here so you can eat something.” Carmen rambled while picking the lock

“Oh my god thank you, I’m starving! Thanks for coming, Red. I don’t know what id I do if you didn’t...considering I don’t have any other friends here and my parents are somewhere in the US. And it’s the weekend so I’d be stuck here until Monday.”

The lock popped, the locker door opened, and player launched himself out, taking a second to stand up considering his legs and knees hurt from not being able to move much for hours. Carmen helps him up and zack and ivy run through the hall back to them.

“Thanks so much guys”

“No problem, Player. You are way shorter than I expected.” Ivy said

“Ha ha very funny. Now Carmen said you guys brought food..?”

——————-

“Oh my god guys I have never enjoyed McDonald’s so much...” player sighed as he put the trash from his food back in the bag,

“Would’ve gotten you something better, but we didn’t want to waste time.” Carmen replied.

“Oh I just got the best idea! my parents are on a business trip, so you guys can stay at my house. We have a guest room and the couch folds out in the living room-“

“It’ll be like a sleepover! You obviously have a lot of video games we can play and movies to watch!” Zack said from the driver seat 

“I was thinking we could come up with a plan of vengeance upon those who wronged you!” Ivy added dramatically from the back right seat.

“That’s actually not a bad idea...I think I might have the main ideas of a plan but we actually need to work it out.” Carmen said from the passenger seat.

“Oh they’re dead now!”

—————————

Since there was not enough room in player’s room for the four of them, they were all in the living room. Player was sitting on the floor, zack and ivy were on the couch, and Carmen was on the armchair. 

“So the first thing I thought of was that we need proof that they are bullying you. My idea is that you wear the earpiece and we can set it to record what’s happening. The next thing we need to do is figure out how to make it so we don’t have to be at the school so that ivy, zack, and I can help you, that I don’t have a plan for.” Carmen explained

“Oh! You could ‘accidentally’ miss the bus so they’ll see that you’re alone, but we’ll be hiding of course, and when they acknowledge you, we’ll make our grand entrance!” Zack spoke up suddenly before adding, “what the most badass way for you to enter, boss?”

“There’s too many to narrow down since Red is a born badass” player replies, earning an amused eye roll from Carmen. Ivy looks like she’s contemplating something.

“If we can get to an elevated place like a parking garage I can use my grappling hook to launch myself up, then do a tuck and roll landing. Is that badass enough?” Carmen said calmly as if she were saying where she were going for lunch.

“Or when they start talking to me you could sneak up behind them and when they turn around, you’re just there like ‘so you must be Jake.’” Player said

“Of course! ivy you look like you have an idea” zack said as he looked at her. A shit-eating grin spread across her face,

“Player,” ivy started, “you think you could get us some paintball guns?”

Silence.

“I’ll get my laptop.”

This is going to be awesome.

—————————

The group spent the next two days planning before Monday when player goes back to school. They kept changing and changing it until it was perfect. The paintball guns arrived late Saturday, long enough for Zack and ivy to practice using them.

Player put in the earpiece while Zack whipped up a quick breakfast for the group, ivy was setting up the computer in the living room so they wouldn’t have to crowd in player’s room, and Carmen was going over the plan with player. 

“-and then we haul ass out of there. If things start going wrong at school, just say ‘guess I’ll just have a bad day’, got it?” Carmen finished

“Yeah and make it sound normal so that they won’t get suspicious.” Ivy called as she looked up from the computer. 

“Player, you should probably get to the stop. Take this toaster waffle to eat while you wait for the bus” Zack says, handing player a waffle

“Alright, bye guys! Oh and when we get home I’ll do the thing!” Player said as he opened the door and started walking down the street to the bus stop.

————————

The ride to school was boring as ever, except player was excited. That was when Jake and his jackasses entered the bus.

“So, nerd, wearing earrings now? What are you? Gay?” Jake said as his goons snickered behind him. He thought he heard something on the other end of his earpiece, but didn’t think about it.

“Oh Jake, I thought we were keeping our relationship a secret.” Player snapped back with a smug grin. Team red and Jake’s jackasses burst out with laughter, achievement unlocked. 

Jake was less amused.

“Shut the fuck up you bastard! You’re dead!” Jake bellowed

Yes. Rile them up.

“Quiet down back there unless you want to walk to school!” The bus driver shouted, shutting Jake and his jackasses up.

“Lovely.” Player sighed and picked up his phone and started reading about the history and culture of Mumbai, where the group was likely heading next.

—————————

About 5 minutes after player left, the group heard him get on the bus. Soon after they heard the noise level increase as someone started taunting player,

“So, nerd, wearing earrings now? What are you? Gay?” The voice said

“Ugh! Why does he say that like it’s a bad thing?!” Ivy shouts

“Shh! We can’t let them hear us!” Zack whisper shouted

“Oh Jake,” player said sweetly, “I thought we were keeping out relationship a secret.”

Team Red lost it and so did the people on the other side of the comms.

—————————

After a day of snide comments in the hallway and pencils hitting the back of his head, player stayed late after his class to talk about an assignment and buy time. After he left the classroom he went to his locker to get his things, pretending to be on the phone. 

He finished saying “guess I’ll meet you on the roof at 6 then” when suddenly his head was slammed into the locker.

“You think you can get away with what you said earlier? Who you gonna meet tonight anyway?” Jake bellowed at him

“It was funny wasn’t it? And that’s none of your business” Player shrugged, putting a hand on his aching forehead

“Hey Jake, I’d like to see how he got out of his locker last week, the dumbass doesn’t have any friends and his parents sure as hell don’t care about him, so who let him out?” One of jakes jackasses shouts from behind Jake

“Y’know what? I agree with you,” Jake said before shoving player into his locker and slamming the door, “the little shit will learn to shut up.”

“Guess I’ll just have a bad day.” Player grumbled from inside the locker as he heard footsteps running away. He peaked through the slats in his locker and sees that Jake and the goons were hiding behind a corner waiting to see how he gets out. 

He waited for a couple minutes until he hears footsteps coming to his locker, he peeks out and sees a flash of red hair.

Ivy.

“Hey player, what’s your code?” He heard her accent speak through the locker door. He said his code and the door opened.

“Hey ivy, thanks for coming” player smiled as he stood up, grabbing his backpack

“No prob pl-“

“Oh look who we have here? I suspect you’re “Red”, right? I would think you are his girlfriend but you’re out of his league” Jake sauntered up to ivy

“Uh player did you hear a fart?” Ivy replied, faking confusion. Player caught his laugh when he saw jake’s face.

“Listen here bitch! You shut up or we’ll pound that little shit to a pulp!” Jake shouted, pointing to player

“Try it, I dare you!” Player shouted, knowing full well what will happen to them if they do.

“You lay a hand on him and you won’t be able to use it for a month!” Ivy threatened 

“Oh yeah? If you talk like that it’s no wonder why you hang out with a loser like him-“

Jake suddenly grabbed player’s throat and slammed him against the locker

“i mean, he’s such a pathetic little-“

WHAM

Ivy’s fist made contact with Jake’s cheek and he fell back, then his goons charged at them.

“And now we run.” Ivy said, panicked 

“Yep.” Replied player, feeling ivy’s hand wrap around his forearm and tug him away. 

They ran through the nearly empty school with five or six guys on their tail and once they bursted out of the entrance they saw Zack waiting with the car

“What did you do?!” Zack yelled as ivy practically threw player into the car and clambered into the passenger seat.

“No one died.” Ivy replied quickly as the car sped off

“WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT?!” Zack bellowed

“They threatened to beat up player so I punched one in the face.” Ivy said

“YOU WHAT?!” 

“Zack focus on the road!” Player yelled, looking out the window to see if they were following the car

“Sorry player!” Zack said as he looked back out the front

“So, you think they’ll show up?” Ivy asked

“They heard me say the time and place, and since they’re certainly pissed off now, they’ll probably show up to try to beat the crap out of me” player said, still looking out the window, “it will be a bad night for them.”

—————————

Who does that bitch think she is? Punching him in the face like that can’t go without consequences. Luckily he heard the little pipsqeak say he was meeting someone. They can catch him before the person shows up when he’s all alone and lay him out. Even if the person does show up, they outnumber then 7 to 2. It will be dark when they get there so no one would witness it.

She only landed that punch because he was distracted. 

Jake stormed out of his house and called his squad, telling them to meet up in the school parking lot so the could go up to the roof and beat the shit out of that brat who thinks he can just say whatever the fuck he wants. He arrives at the school and slowly all the guys show up.

They climb the fire escape and get to the roof to see the runt sitting on a metal box-like thing that was probably for air conditioning, it’s not like Jake cared. All he cared about right now was getting back at this loser.

“Hey nerd! Did they not show? Oh boo hoo I guess now you’re here by yourself.” Jake said, grinning.

“But I’m not alone” the kid said as he stood up, smiling smugly.

Suddenly there was a click, like something hitting stone, before a slim red figure launched up from behind the wall, and as it was in the air it did a flip before landing on its feet as a hook on a long rope coiled back into its wrist.

It’s a woman in a red trench coat and hat.

“So you must be Jake.” Said the women in red, staring him down. He looked behind him at the boys, Mark looked vaguely intimidated and/or impressed, Nolan looked confused and intimidated, William looked like he was going to laugh, pretty much everyone was at least a little intimidated.

And he couldn’t blame them because he was too.

“Hey Red” the little jerk said as he beamed at the woman who was currently glaring into their souls.

This is Red?

“You think just because your girlfriend can do a fancy trick doesn’t mean you can get away with what you said!” Nolan shouted from behind him, “we outnumber you, seven to two!”

“I like those odds” the lady in red said and suddenly he was on the floor, the woman a few paces away, standing back up and casually sliding her hands into her pockets.

This bitch just swept his legs. Like a hero from a movie.

Mark jumped forward to punch her in the face, but she ducked swiftly, and tackled him through the new opening. Once he was in the ground, she sprung back up onto her feet. 

Jake growled and charged the woman, but she stepped to the side and—with a hand on the center of his back— pushed him down again.

That’s. Fucking. It.

The whole group swarmed her at once, it’s hard to tell exactly what she did, but soon 4 out of the 7 of them were on the floor. Jake cursed at the woman and tried again, only to be met with more floor.

Jake looked around and say the nerd just standing there smiling.

He rushed forward and puts the scrawny kid in a tight headlock, before looking up at the woman with a smug smile stretched across his face.

But instead of fear in the woman’s eyes, she smirked and raised her left hand.

Then there was noise. And pain.

They yelled as they were being pelted with paintballs, leaving paint splatters the same shade as the woman’s coat.

Jake let go of the kid and the gang scrambled around for cover from the sudden weaponry.

“That’s what you fucking get for treating player like shit!” He peeked out and saw two people holding the guns, a red headed boy and the bitch from earlier.

He suddenly was very very angry. He charged out from behind the air conditioning thingy and attempted to tackle the girl, but charging an active shooter is not a good idea as he soon found out when a paintball hit him square in the forehead from about a foot away causing him to see stars.

He falls backwards and lays down, clutching his head as the woman in red struts forward.

She presses a booted food into his chest and stares him directly in the eyes,

“Never hurt player again. Or I will personally hunt you down.” She said sternly, before looking up and the rest of the group peeking out from behind their cover

“That goes for all of you.” She says before lifting her foot off him. “Ivy, zack, they’re yours.”

He scrambles up in time to see her and the brat just fucking jump off the side of the building. Then suddenly a red triangle lifts up into the air and glides away.

Of course his awe was cut short by more paintballs pelting him and his gang.

—————————

Jake woke up the next morning with a purple bruise on his forehead and no Xbox saves.


End file.
